|  | 
      
        |  | 
      
        |  | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED | 
      
        |  | AN ACT | 
      
        |  | relating to civil suits filed against board members of a | 
      
        |  | groundwater conservation district and the liability of a member for | 
      
        |  | certain actions taken by the board. | 
      
        |  | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | 
      
        |  | SECTION 1.  Section 36.060, Water Code, is amended by adding | 
      
        |  | Subsection (e) to read as follows: | 
      
        |  | (e)  For liability purposes only, a director is considered a | 
      
        |  | district employee under Chapter 101, Civil Practice and Remedies | 
      
        |  | Code, even if the director does not receive fees of office | 
      
        |  | voluntarily, by district policy, or through a statutory exception | 
      
        |  | to this section. | 
      
        |  | SECTION 2.  Section 36.066(a), Water Code, is amended to | 
      
        |  | read as follows: | 
      
        |  | (a)  A district may sue and be sued in the courts of this | 
      
        |  | state in the name of the district by and through its board.  A | 
      
        |  | district board member is immune from suit and immune from liability | 
      
        |  | for official votes and official actions. All courts shall take | 
      
        |  | judicial notice of the creation of the district and of its | 
      
        |  | boundaries. | 
      
        |  | SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives | 
      
        |  | a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as | 
      
        |  | provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this | 
      
        |  | Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this | 
      
        |  | Act takes effect September 1, 2015. |